Furniture



(No Model.) 3 SheetsSl1eet 1.

' P. SHEPLER; I v FURNITURE. No. 299,588. Patented June 3, 1884.

3 Sheets' She et 3.

(No Model.) a

. P. L. SHEPLER.

FURNITURE.

Patented June 3, 1884.

UNITED TATES PIUS LEE SHEPLER, OF TOLEDO, OHIO.

FURNITURE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 299,588, dated June 3, 1884.

' Application filed July 3, 1883. (No model.)

To all whom/it may concern.-

Be it known that I, P. L. SHEPLER, of Toledo, in the county of Lucas and State of Ohio, have invented certain Improvements in Furniture, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to that class of furniture (more particularly school-desks) which consist of two upright supporting frames or standards connected at their edges by a series of transverse wooden bars or slats, which constitute the seat and back of the article. In this class of furniture reliance is placed mainly or wholly upon the slats as a means of -maiutaining the standards inan upright position and giving stability to the entire structure. Hitherto great difficulty has been encountered because of the inability to produce and maintain the proper rigidity and firmness of the connections, the result being that the furniture soon became unstable, and frequently gave way under the severe usage to which it was subjected in practice. This want of stability was due in a measure to the defective plans upon which the fastenings were constructed and in part to the loosening of the connections resulting from the shrinkage of the wood. It is the aim of my invention to avoid these difficulties and to provide a cheap and simple connection which may be applied by machinery, and which shall maintain, notwithstanding the shrinkage of the wood, a perfectly firm union between the slats and their supporting-standards.

To this end the invention consists in a fastening-plate, the plate being constructed with an enlarged end and with fiat side faces,which are seated against corresponding flat faces in the slat, constructed and applied to the slats and standards in the peculiar manner hereinafter explained.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents an end elevation of the school-desk and seat having my improvement embodied therein. Fig. '2 is a perspective view of one of the fastening devices or clips. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of one end of a slat, showing the openings in its two edges to receive the fastening devices. Figs. 4 and 5 are respectively a longitudinal 'and a transverse sectionof the slat on the lines x 00 and g y, Fig. 3. Fig. 6 is a perspective view showing a number of the slats and the fastening devices, illustrating the positions which they occupy to each other when in use. Fig. 7 is a cross-section on the line 2 2, Fig. 1. Fig. 8 is a section on the line x 00, Figs. 1 and 7. Fig. 9 is a diagram illustrating the relative positions of the slots or recesses in the adja-- v Fig. 10 is a perspective view of cent slats. one of the standards and the slats and connecting devices applied thereto, the slats being shown partially in sections to expose the connecting devices to view. Fig. 11 is a perspective view showing a modified form of the fastening devices.

Referring to the drawings, A A represent the two upright standards or supports, which may be given any desired form or outline, and B B the horizontal wooden slats or bars applied thereto. In the particular form of desk represented in the drawings, which is common in the art, the standards give support to the top or lid, to the slats forming the back of the seat, and also-to horizontal hinged arms D, to which the slats forming the bottom of the chair or seats proper are secured. So far as the above parts are concerned, they are or may be of ordinary construction, except in the peculiarities hereinafter specified, my invention having reference solely to the manner of connecting the slats to the standards.

The devices E,whichIe1nploy as a meansof connection ,are of the form plainly represented in Fig. 2, each consisting of a flat plate of metal, having one end bent or otherwise formed transversely into a cylindricalform, as shown at c, and the opposite end provided with a hole or opening, d. These platesare designed for attachment to the standard or other support by means of screws or bolts passing through the opening d, while their cylindrical ends 0 are designed to engage firmly in corresponding recesses formed in the edge of the slats in the peculiar manner which Iwill now explain. Each end of the wooden bar or slat is provided in opposite edges with two cavities or recesses, e, each adapted to re ceive and closely embrace one end of the fastening-plate E with its enlarged end. It will be observed that each recess consists of a narrow straight slit, the walls of which will bear firmly against the side faces of the plate, and

of the cylindrical enlargement to receive the end or head of the plate, which serves to keep the slat in place. In other words,the opening is of the form which would be produced by boring a round hole into the edge of the slat and then sawing a narrow slit of equal depth from this hole backward through the rear face of the slat. The recess extends into the slat from the edge in a direction at right angles thereto, a distance equal to half the width of the fastening-plate, and extends forward into the slat from the rear about onehalf its thickness. It will be observed on reference to Figs. 3, 6, and 9 that the two recesses in opposite edges are not located directly opposite or in line with each other, but are offset or placed out of line a distance equal to the width or thickness of the standard to which the slat is applied, so that when the slat is in position its two recesses will be presented on opposite sides or edges of the standard, as shown. For reasons hereinafter stated,this arrangement of the fastenings out of line is an important feature.

In assembling the parts the two standards are placed at the proper distance apart, and a plate, E, screwed or bolted firmly tothe side face of each-for example, the inner side-with its end projecting beyond the edge of the standard, as in various figures. A slat, recessed as described, is then placed against the standards and driven down, so as to seat the projecting end of the plates in its lower edge. The upper edge of the slat thus applied will present at its upper edge recesses at the outer side of the standards. Fastening-plates applied at the outside of the standards are then driven down into the recesses in the upper edge of the slat, and screwed or bolted firmly to the standard, as shown. The plates having a vertical width greater than the depth of the slots will project above the samein the manner shown in Fig. 10, in position to receive the lower edge of the next slat, which is then driven down thereon to receive fastenings in turn at its upper edge, and so on repeatedly until the series is completed, slats and plates being applied alternately, and the successive plates on each standard being applied to its inner and outer faces alternately. Then the parts are united, as described, each plate enters the contiguous edges of two slats. The enlarged head or end of the plate holds the slats'with great firmness against the face or edge of the standard, and in the event of the shrinkage of the wood it will bind with increased firmness on the cylindrical head because of its contracting against the same from opposite sides. Owing to the fact that the plate is made with flat faces, and that these faces bear tightly against correspondin g flat walls in the bars,the plates resist strongly any force tending to throw the standards sidewise out of avertical position, and in this regard their action differs widely from that of T- shaped fastenings having round shanks. The arrangement of the fastenin gs on alternate sides of the standards is important,

in that they are thus enabled to resist more effectively strains tending to spring the desk sidewise. The reason for this will be clear 011 reference to Fig. 9, which indicates the position of the standard between the plates. It will be seen that any strain tending to tip the standard to the position shown by the dotted line will tend also to move the slats endwise on one another, and not only to apply a torsional strain to the plates, but also to move them edgewise in a direction transverse to the slats, as indicated by the arrows in said figure. New, owing to the fact that the plates are on opposite sides of the standard and out of line, it follows that their movement edgewise is resisted by the intervening body of the slat. As a result the plates serve to give the structure a rigidity far exceeding that which is secured when the plates are applied to one face of the standard in line with each other.

I am aware that a metal dowel having round arms has been seated in the adjacent edges of slats, and secured to a standard by a screw at right angles to its arms, as in the patent to Presbrey, No. 191,713, and also that a plate screwed to the side of a standard has been provided with round arms seated in the edges of two slats, as in the patent to Childs, No. 184,598; also, that slats having dovetailed or undercut grooves from edge to edge have been driven upon standards or bars, the edges of which were of a T form, as in the patent to Ritcr, No. 136,548; and also that slats have been secured to a standard by means of eyebolts and of wires or rods extending transversely through the series of slats and the bolts, as in the patent to Mott, No. 245,087, and to such devices I lay no claim. I believe myself to be the first to employ a flat fastening-plate with a head or enlargement across its entire end. A distinctive feature of my device lies in the fact that the connecting-plates have flat vertical faces, and that these faces are seated against corresponding faces or walls in the seat, whereby the parts are braced and held laterally and a firm connection maintained notwithstanding the fact that the slats may draw apart at the edges from shrinkage. \Vhile it ispreferred to make the fastening device of wrought metal by curling the end of a flat plate, as shown, it may be made of cast metal, and, instead of having the end of round or cylindrical form, it may be flat and bent at a right angle, as in Fig. 11. The present invention is restricted to those matters and things which are hereinafter claimed, and as to all matters which may be described or shown, but which are not claimed, the right is reserved to make the same the subject of va separate application.

Having thus described my invention, whatI claim is 1. As an improvement in furniture, the combination of astandard, parallel slats provided in their rear faces with thin slits at right angles to their edges partially across the slat, and

IOO

flat connecting-plates each secured at the rear 1 sides of the standard alternateiy, and seated end to the standard and seated at the forward in the slits, whereby the edges of the plates 10 end firmly in the recesses of the two contiguare caused to assistin maintaining the rigidity ous slats. V of the structure.

2. In combination with the standards and PIUS LEE vSHEPLER. the series of slats provided with narrow slits Witnesses: at right angles to their edges, the series of J. N. MILLER,

flat connecting plates, applied to the two HENRY VAN NORTWIOK. 

